One of a Kind
by Malluchan
Summary: "From the day they led you out of the trailer to the stall in the farthest corner of the stables, from the time you first looked me in the eyes, I could see that you had great spirit . The spirit of a flying creature stuck in a land animal's body . A potential to be something more . And you taught me that even when I'm stuck here alone I could have one too and fly, fly away ..." AU
1. What more could you be in a little town

Hi everyone, just so you know, this is an AU. Alternate Universe, kiddos. So no Beyblades here.

* * *

_Lived in a little town_

_Sweet happy little town_

_Fly away to a little town _

_where the people always say Hi..._

More of a village really.

_Once upon a time in a little town_

Set on the side of a mountain, Koma village looked out on the valley below with quiet dignity.

_Quiet busy little town_

It didn't consist of much really; here and there a mom-and-pop restaurant or a corner store, a general store, and a few nondescript public places that didn't impress many. One of its few qualities was a tiny bed and breakfast on the edge of the forest.

_Hide away in a little town_

_and you'd never have to ask why_

Koma Village's most attention-drawing quality, however, was the horses.

_Livery tucked in a little town_

_House on a hill that would never fall down_

A horse ranch rested on the very edge of its borders. People from all over the world came there to board their horses or switch them out when they were tired; they rode on the mountain and stayed at the bed and breakfast.

_Horses lining every way_

_Little town sun just to brighten the day_

And at the very opposite edge of the village, far out from the crater in the mountain and the houses of the others, Gingka Hagane lived with his father.

_Smiling in the little town_

_with the kind of the day that went round and round_

_Fly away, to a little town_

_and I'll be there if you need to cry_

Every day went the same, every time the sun came up it went down at the same time. The winds followed nature's pattern and his feet had followed every single path in the surrounding forest, even on the other side of the mountain.

_Could you be any more in a little town_

_than a suburb in the city when the sun comes down?_

_Stars shine brighter in a little town_

_and you could be one too._

Gingka never thought he could be anything more than a home-town boy with not enough education to light a candle with and more knowledge of bird migrations than grammar. But it all changed when a trailer drew up to the stables across town

_When you need to get away there's a little town_

Dropped off a horse

_Small houses lining the streets in the little town_

Kicked up dust behind it as it drove off,

_Anything goes in a little tiny town_

_with your name on it waiting for you_

And never came back.


	2. Smiling Busy Happy town

Hi everyone, I'm back. And just so you know, don't get freaked out over the poetry plz...it's a thing...so...

Yeah. I wrote it myself. And I like putting poetry in there. SO this is kind of poetry too.

* * *

The trailer had rattled past the house, early in the morning, as Gingka opened his sleepy eyes to the sound of his father in the kitchen.

_When the birds first wake you with their morning sounds_

_You could be anywhere in a little town_

The trailer was dinged up and a tarnished white, with little bells on the sides and wheels that whistled when they rolled.

_Sky so blue and heart so free_

_where else but a little town could you be?_

Gingka pressed his face to the window as the trailer whistled off in the direction of the stables, and then he hurried to pull on his clothes and went down to breakfast. His father was already gone.

Granola bars waited in the cupboard, and he snagged one on his way out. If somebody had come this far toting a horse in a trailer rather than riding it, he wanted to see the horse.

There was nothing much else to do anyways.

_No train tracks and no interstate_

_If you want to get out it's sure a long wait_

Gingka saw the trailer up ahead of him, sure enough parked right in front of the stables. He peered inside; it was empty. So they'd brought the horse to the stable already.

_But there's nowhere to go but a little town_

_Live and you die, _

_in a sweet little town_

A man walked out, and he could hear voices. He was talking to Zadie, the manager of the stables.

"...back in a coupla weeks to pick her up. If I'm not back by Tuesday, ya could send someone to come lookin' for me."

Zadie nodded her head. "I'll do that. Y'all have fun now."

The guy nodded to her and hopped back in the front of the pickup truck, where his wife and kids were waiting. He glanced at Gingka, and Gingka waved to him.

_Where the people always say hi_

He didn't wave back.

Gingka nodded to Zadie, and she nodded back. People knew him as the boy who talked to nobody, and her as the lady in charge of the horses. She was used to him wandering around back of the stables with a hardcover notebook and a pen stuck behind his ear. Nobody knew what he kept in the notebook but him.

_Little town set on a hill looking down,_

_No TVs or computers, just mountain-ish sounds_

It was how he spent his time. His dad called him homeschooled; Chicky, Alma, and Rudy called him dumb. Gingka'd never had much success in a public school, so he didn't go.

_Back of the stable, perfect little world_

_Nobody here but you and me, son_

_Sweet little town on a hill looking down_

Hoikuto, Zadie's little terrier, snuffled around the stables. Gingka often imagined he could talk, and what would he say then? He would say poems.

_Rest all your days in a little town_

_Don't go away from that little town_

Gingka couldn't understand why Hoikuto wouldn't want to leave here with him, but Hoikuto seemed perfectly happy. He raced around with a flop-tongued grin and seemed to forget the monotony of days past right after they happened.

Gingka wandered into the stables, but saw no unfamiliar horse as of yet; there was Ivy Rose, who belonged to Zadie; Racer, Rocket, and Hopper, the rental horses; Copper and Dancer, who were staying there for treatment; and Orion, Leon, and Friedrick, three horses who were awaiting pickup.

Then he saw the new horse. Nestled in the farthest stable, she was pure white, so white she almost shone in the dark corner, with a tangled mane and a wild look in her eyes.

"Tenba." He spoke the name stated on her nameplate, and her ears pricked forward, but she shied away when he approached her.

_Welcome to the safety of a single little town_

_Heart and soul planted deep in the ground,_

_Indian legends resting in stone_

_and you'll never feel alone._

The shyest horse he'd ever seen around here, undoubtedly.

Tenba backed into the stall, about to rear, and Gingka backed of. Zadie would not be please if the horse tore down the stall.

From the other side of the stables, bothered to no end by Leon, Gingka watched the horse.

She seemed to have an almost magical air about her, named for the great pegasus; perhaps one of her ancestors was a mythical creature.

Zadie had always said, "No need to marry your horse". Horses were work animals, not pets. But Tenba's owners had obviously never met Zadie and her famous sayings. Tenba's ears were pierced and parts of her mane left braided; her eyes were wild and she was obviously spoiled.

_I met you in a little town _

_As the hay in the stable lay all around_

Yet he could not take his eyes off her. She seemed a wild creature, not meant to be left in an enclosed barn. She'd kept her wild spirit even locked away in a dusty manger or toted in a trailer all her life. Tenba was inexplicably intriguing.

_I will thank all my life for my little town_

_In the place where I met you._

Her ears lay back on her head, apprehensive of Gingka. She snorted and he exited the stable.

Wandering in the back of the stables looking for Hoikuto, he forgot all about Tenba for the rest of the day, and the day after that, and after that, until two weeks had past

_Winging it high in a little town_

_watching those clouds when the sun comes down_

_Once upon a time in a little town _

_on a hill in the grass by the sky_

And her owners still had not returned.


	3. Cats in the grass

Track for this chapter:

For the asking, by John R. Burr, on the album Sundown

* * *

When a white horse's head peeked around the door to Gingka's bedroom, he was certainly not expecting it.

Tenba had walked right through the front door which his father had so irresponsibly left agape, and was now exploring her new-found playground.

_Just a quiet little town_

_Breathing in and out when the sun went down_

She pawed at the carpet curiously and Gingka sat bolt upright in bed. She seemed docile enough, but she was supposed to be gone by now.

_I was beside you on the hill_

_I wish I was there still_

She was a breathtakingly beautiful horse, he realised, as the sunlight shafted down in slanted lines across her shoulders and tousled mane. Those braids were still not taken out.

Gingka rose tentatively and approached slowly, silently begging her not to buck and send the doorframe collapsing, as his father would not be pleased.

_But from the little town you went away_

_Little town lonely without you now_

_Corn sway beneath me row after row_

_I wish you'd've stayed._

She bucked.

_Little town cobblestones_

_Hooves and silver linings_

Gingka yelled as her hooves hit the top of the doorframe and she whinnied in panic. He grabbed her by the head and took hold of her jewelled and crooked bridle, tugging her out of the house before she could do any more damage. Luckily, Tenba did not resist further.

_Horseshoes and metalsmiths_

_Little town_

She was limping in her front hoof. He led her through the streets of Koma village towards the stable and livery.

_Little town hiding our flaws and fears_

_Little town in the mountains I rest, my dear_

_Little town with a horse_

_Little town with a thought_

_Little town, my little town_

Zadie was waiting at the door, looking around anxiously. She gasped when she saw Gingka with Tenba.

"Gingka! Kid, next time you take a horse of mine, you better tell me."

"No, Zadie, she stuck her head around my bedroom door this morning. Dad left the front door agape again."

_Wherefore art thou my little town?_

"Your father is the craziest man alive", Zadie said firmly, taking Tenba's halter. "What happened to her hoof?"

"I think it got knocked when she bucked the doorframe down."

"That's unfortunate. I hope the horse is okay, too." Zadie led her around the stables and the horse bared her teeth at the poor equine veterinarian, trying to nip her shoulder.

"Bad Tenba. Her owners should've been back two days ago. The council is sending your father and a few others to find her owners."

"What if they can't find him?"

"Then he's outta luck. Everyone knows this mountain's dangerous, and that's just a chance you have to make the choice to take on your own."

_Once was a little town_

_Now bowed down_

Gingka followed her, staying in the horse's sight zone. Hoikuto nipped at her heels when she slowed; he was a good dog and accustomed to the stables.

Tenba snorted as Zadie clipped her lead to the hook at the opposite end of the treating room, a wide area at the end of the stable complex that held rows of equipment and veterinary helpers.

Ivy Rose craned her long brown neck around her stable, reaching her lips out to Tenba's flank, curious. The two female horses whinnied back and forth, Ivy Rose indignant and Tenba just plain mad. Zadie shoved Ivy Rose's head back around into her own stable and had Gingka hold Tenba's head while she took a look at her hoof.

"Yup, she's clipped it on something, all right. All she needs is a little rest for the day and she'll be fine."

Hoikuto barked from the other side of the wall, and Gingka and Zadie followed him to find Tenba's stable door bashed in and splintered. Zadie winced.

"Lucky she didn't cut herself on those splinters. She'll have to stay in the pasture all day with the rentals. Tell your dad to come fix this for me."

_Gone was the little town_

_Sun shining down_

_Met no cobblestones anymore_

Gingka raced across town with Hoikuto in tow, looking for his father. He found the tall man standing behind the house, looking out at the forest.

"Oh, hi, son. What are you in such a hurry for?"

"Zadie wants you to fix something."

"Again?"

"Yes. The horse got in the house."

"Okay, son. I'll be over at Zadie's if you need me." Ryo turned and started to go the other way. Gingka sank down against the wall of the house while Hoikuto chewed on wheat heads in the field before him.

His notebook rested in his lap and he began to write.

_How big is the world to a dog or a cat?_

_Grass is their forest and trees are their giants._

_Flowers their playground and logs their hurdles._

_Think how much bigger the world must be _

_if you were smaller in it, where would you be?_

He thought how it would be to shrink down to cat-size and prowl through the long grass, while it reached only to his knees as of now.

_Even an ant makes a bite-size snack._

On the next page he started fresh, imagining a conversation between Hoikuto and Tenba.

_"You are a very much crazy horse. You can't go in houses, you know." _

_"Why not? The humans get to go in them, and so do you."_

_"That's because humans like me better. You're not allowed in there because you will kick everything you see."_

At this part, Hoikuto would lie down in the hay in front of Tenba, and she would lean down and put her nose in the hay in front of him so she could see him.

_"I only kick things because I'm afraid. I don't like people. They are too loud and they try to put saddles on me. I don't want to be ridden, but they just can't understand that."_

_"Maybe you should try to be more agreeable; they don't mean to hurt you. Zadie gives you sugar. Aren't horses supposed to like sugar?"_

_"That, my friend, is a stereotype. I would much prefer some peanut butter than sugar."_

Gingka shut the book. Perhaps he should try peanut butter for Tenba. His writing down things had worked to help tame Leon, who would be staying here because Zadie had bought him. Gingka had come to the Shire horse with a carrot rather than an apple, and Leon had loved him right away.

He whistled to Hoikuto and went inside for a jar of peanut butter, and then he headed to the stables.


End file.
